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A mushroom cloud after the explosion of a French atomic bomb above the atoll of Mururoa, also known as Aopuni. 1971. From 1966until 1996 this was the French testing ground for 193 bombs which detonated first atmospheric, then underground. French Polynesia, Pacific. (PHoto by Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images)

A mushroom cloud after the explosion of a French atomic bomb above the atoll of Mururoa, also known as Aopuni. 1971. From 1966until 1996 this was the French testing ground for 193 bombs which detonated first atmospheric, then underground. French Polynesia, Pacific. (PHoto by Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images)